dbcve.org
Cloud AgentApplication · Qualys

CVE-2023-28143

HIGH · 7.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.7 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Qualys Cloud Agent for macOS (versions 2.5.1-75 before 3.7) installer allows a local escalation of privilege bounded only to the time of installation and only on older macOSX (macOS 10.15 and older) versions. Attackers may exploit incorrect file permissions to give them ROOT command execution privileges on the host. During the install of the PKG, a step in the process involves extracting the package and copying files to several directories. Attackers may gain writable access to files during the install of PKG when extraction of the package and copying files to several directories, enabling a local escalation of privilege.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Qualys Cloud Agent for macOS installer (versions 2.5.1-75 before 3.7) has incorrect file permissions during PKG installation on macOS 10.15 and older. Attackers can exploit writable access to files during the package extraction and copying phases to gain ROOT command execution privileges, achieving local privilege escalation.

MitigationUpgrade Qualys Cloud Agent for macOS to version 3.7 or later to obtain the patched installer with corrected file permissions.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Cloud AgentApplication
Affected:>= 2.5.1-75, < 3.7

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Qualys Cloud Agent is installed
    Check for the presence of Qualys Cloud Agent by listing the contents of /Applications for 'Qualys' folder, or check running processes for 'qualys' using ps aux | grep -i qualys
    Affected if The agent is not present in the system
  2. Identify the installed version
    Locate the Qualys Cloud Agent installation directory (typically under /Applications/Qualys/ or /Library/Application Support/Qualys/) and check the version information file, or run the agent's version command if available
    Affected if The installed version is 2.5.1-75 or higher but lower than 3.7
  3. Confirm the macOS version
    Run 'sw_vers -productVersion' or 'system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType' to determine the macOS version
    Affected if The system is running macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or earlier, as the vulnerability specifically affects these older OS versions
  4. Verify the permission vulnerability exists
    Check the file permissions on the Qualys installation directories and PKG installer receipt using 'ls -la' and 'pkgutil --info' for the Qualys installer receipt
    Affected if World-writable permissions are found on installation files or the package receipt indicates the vulnerable installer version was used

A system is affected if Qualys Cloud Agent version 2.5.1-75 through 3.6.x is installed on macOS 10.15 (Catalina) or earlier, with insecure file permissions present on the installation components.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.7 or later
Fixed in 3.7
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Qualys Cloud Agent for macOS to version 3.7 or later to obtain the patched installer with corrected file permissions.

Recommended fix High confidence

Qualys Cloud Agent version 3.7

  1. Upgrade Qualys Cloud Agent to version 3.7 or later
  2. Verify the installation completes successfully
  3. Ensure the agent is running with correct permissions post-upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Cloud Agent Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,900
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,040.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-28143 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-28143 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data